Here is a fascinating account of regulatory excess as told by Arthur Allen in his fantastic book on the controversial history of vaccination (Arthur Allen, “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver” New York: Norton, 2007). The regulator in question is Martin Friedrich, chief public health officer in 1901 Cleveland. Concluding that vaccination (as he saw it) had become counterproductive:
“he sent a crew of 40 medical students out to disinfect entire districts where smallpox had been reported, using a gas driven fumigator that rendered a house uninhabitable for several days. They sprayed all the houses in the neighborhoods where smallpox had been - “every room, nook and corner of a house, paying special attention to the winter clothing which had been stored away, presumably full of germs.” He put barbed wire and two guards around the smallpox hospital, to make sure people stayed put until they were cured. He shot dogs and cats living in neighborhoods with smallpox cases. On one poignant occasion, he snatched away a dog that a sick child was hiding under the covers. “Almost six months have elapsed since the source [of smallpox] has been exterminated from our midst,” Friedrich told the doctors. “The death blow was dealt by formaldehyde.” (p. 84)
And a good measure of unnecessary violence, I might add. I wouldn’t want this guy around when the avian flu hits.
